


An Archer's Story

by childofmischief



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Told from the perspective of someone in kronos' army
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 03:03:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11304390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofmischief/pseuds/childofmischief
Summary: An unnamed narrator, an archer for Kronos' army shares their experience during the battle of Manhattan.





	An Archer's Story

I stood, perched on the ledge of a skyscraper near Olympus, watching the battle unfold underneath me. My brothers and sisters, the ones who didn’t care if the gods stepped on and used them fought monsters and demigods who were in their right minds. I didn’t have to do much, just sit and wait for one of the archers from Camp Half-Blood to try to shoot me down, or snipe someone down when I got the word. It’s a lonely job, but I was promised that when Kronos won, I would be given glory in the eyes of our new rulers. Minor gods, my mom, would be respected. 

I was more than willing to kill in the name of justice. Those Camp Half-Blood losers down there, they didn’t get it. Their parents are respected by the Camp, their parents claim them. They were privileged, and didn’t even know it. It annoyed all of us so much. They were little babies. 

I could see the whole city from up here, from the bridge to the ocean. I could see the little squabbles littered throughout my hometown’s streets. For a moment, I wondered what kind of damage we were doing to the city I had loved, but then I fought that thought back. It didn’t matter, because Kronos would bring about a new age, and those deadbeat Olympians would have to clean it up. It was their mess in the first the place.

I cracked a smile, as I watched demigods from the other side retreat. “Who’s all high and mighty now?” I said, to no one in particular. Up there, in the air, watching the battle from a bird’s eye view, I felt disconnected from it all. The chances of me dying in the name of what I knew was right were slim, something I was eternally grateful for. But the longer I stood there for, the more I realized how my friends might die.

An arrow whizzed past my ear, startling me out of my thoughts. I whipped my head over to the source of the arrow, to see an Apollo boy, whose name I had not forgotten. He had a helmet covering his face, but I knew, by the faded green friendship bracelet he wore, identical to my own. It was Elio Lee, my best friend before I left to join Kronos.

“E-Elio.” I stammered, cursing myself for letting my emotions get the better of me. It didn’t matter now. We weren’t friends. We were on different sides of this war. He faltered a bit too, before shaking his head, and knocking back another arrow, aiming it at me. I wasted no time to send an arrow of my own flying in his direction. I hit him right on the neck, the one part of his body without armor. He fell forward, and off his post on the skyscraper across from me. I turned away as he fell to his death, feeling slightly sick to my stomach. 

I thought back to the times we had spent together before the war. He had been so nice to me, and for what reason I’ll never know. I was a brat when I was young, broody and uncooperative. But Elio had seen through that, he decided I was worth it, and honestly, if it weren’t for him I don’t think I’d be alive to shoot him down. 

I shook my head. The past does not matter. I was a soldier of Kronos. Camp Half-Blood was never my home, and it will never be. I wasn’t welcome there, and that was made clear years ago. I was cramped in the Hermes cabin, as if my mother was nothing. I looked down below me, making sure not to look at where Elio had fallen. I watched Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, a girl who had once been my friend, pass by. My earpiece was silent, and I figured it wasn’t known they were on their way after Luke. I grabbed an arrow from my quiver, nocking it towards the teenagers my own age. If I just released it, I could end it. I could end the war.

But something held me back, some voice in the back of my head. 

And I lowered my bow, letting them pass safely. I’ve killed too many in this war. Yes, this war was for justice, and I truly believed in my cause. I watched as some demigods from my own army fell as Camp Half-Blood got stronger the more they were pushed toward Olympus.

With tears in my eyes, I looked up at the moon, shining brightly upon my city, upon my home. “We aren’t gonna win, are we?” I asked the heavens, the first time since the war began doubt seeping into my bones. I looked down, knowing it was a long way down, both metaphorically and physically. I sighed and stepped back. “We will win.” I lied to myself. “We will win.”

I turned toward the door, how I had gotten up to the roof, and rested my hand on the knob. With a lump in my throat, I pushed open the door, coming face to face with Noah James, a son of Nike, and the demigod assigned to keep me in line. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” He said. 

My grip on my bow tightened, the metal cutting painfully into my fingers. “I had to pee.” I lied. 

“You can do that up here.” He closed the door and left, and when I heard his footsteps retreat, I let out a sigh of relief. Noah’s presence reminded me I must stay on task. We were not gonna let those privilaged Olympian scum defeat us. I ran back over towards the edge, just in time to see a blue flag go up at Olympus, and a cry echo throughout the city streets. The retreat cry. I stared at the flag in disbelief.

“No…” I muttered, scanning down below desperately. “No!” I tossed my bow aside to watch my army retreat from the streets below. “This wasn’t how it was suppose to go!”

I pushed off, looking to the sky in anger. “Curse you, Zeus!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was angry at the gods, I was angry at myself for allowing my faith to waver. I could’ve ended it, had I taken the shot. “You need to learn to step down!” I screamed again. I yelled and cursed at the sky, falling to my knees as thunder rumbled above me. I hadn’t retreated with the rest of the army, not like they’d want me back anyway. I left the building, tears rolling down my cheeks, ready to start my new life on the streets, forever a loner. 

A boy bumped into me, dark, broody, a son of Hades to be sure. At first, I didn’t look at him. Why would I care? He fought against me, he wouldn’t want me. 

“Hey.” He stopped me in my tracks, looking me over. “You’re part of Kronos’ army, aren’t you.”

I looked around for Noah, hoping he would get me out of this. When he was nowhere to be seen, I spat. “Why do you care?”

The boy narrowed his eyes at me, before pointing to the Empire State Building. “They’re accepting and pardoning those who fought in his army. If you don’t want to be like me, I’d go there.” And he walked away, leaving me with a hard decision. 

Why would they accept me? Why would I want to be accepted? I had joined Kronos’ army for a reason, to fight against the Olympians. I didn’t believe in them. But as I watched that boy walk away with slumped shoulders and a heavy heart, I took the chance, and marched straight up to Olympus.


End file.
